THE Golden Ticket is in my hands....

It arrived, with a kerplunk through the doorway this morning. I opened it and to my delight is printed on golden yellow paper! I trembled with anticipation as I opened it as to what would lie within and I was not disappointed. A full study of this document has not yet been undertaken but in my first baited breath look through it I noticed some important (and perhaps crucial to our campaign) as follows:

Some important additions:

Class 89. A knitted tea cosy (LO'R just bought a book of these and EH (SEnior) knitted one for NM's wedding present in late 2009) Its almost like this was planned with our own Industrial section in mind

Class 115. A decorated teacup. Having just purchased approximately 63 of these for my wedding I have an abundance of material for practise with. Again, is this just a coincidence?

Some important changes:

133. 4 Line verse in Calligraphy. Those calligraphers among us previously felt discriminated against as they did not have the doric tongue. Well, obviously the TS organisers have come to their senses that craft discrimination is not acceptable in this day and age and are promoting diversity with the removal of "doric" from this category. However, it should be noted that this was a no- entry category last year and the removal of doric from the class may widen the field. This change is met, therefore, with mixed emotions.

Class 224- 232 Flower arranging Last year this had a unifying "Homecoming" theme. We can see no unifying theme this year and instead disparate themes appear to categorise these classes this year. These include "Easter Celebration", "All good things come in small packages" (Hmmm, I'm thinking okra could be part of this arrangement) and "Celebration of Life".

I will, of course, after further study and comparison to last years categories update you on further additions/ amendments/ deletions. A rule reminder will be issued also to keep us on track.

EH